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2013-12-19

LMdC’s 10 Best Albums of 2013

Compared to 2012, 2013 has been a year where music was still
omnipresent in my life but I mostly revisited albums that I cherished and loved
more than being much on the discovery side. Still digging extreme Metal, indie
Rock, and Punk I somewhat managed to have a decent playlist of 2013 albums that
will endure for a while in my ears.

As side note, I must add this list of albums I have yet to
listen and that will eventually change the rank of the so-called Top 10
below :

10. M83 – Oblivion SoundtrackHere is a case where the score is more interesting than the film. Just by
the name of M83 I was sold.

9. Jimmy Eat World
– DamageJimmy Eat World is a band I’ve seen many times live and it always reminds
me of the first moments of relationship with my wife. It is, in fact, her
favorite band. Their new album, Damage
is a return to form back to the time they made their sound in the era of Bleed American and mostly Futures. A solid Indie rock album.

Listen : Damage,
I Will Steal You Back

8. Vreid – Welcome FarewellThe continuity on the path that the melodic Viking Metal band Windir after its frontman past away,
Vreid is a much more traditional version of Metal from Norway. Without falling
into the ocean of Black Metal bands calling themselves true Norwegian BM, Vreid
manage to make genuine and efficient extreme Metal in the vein of the best
years of Keep of Kalessin.

Listen : Way of
the Serpent, Welcome Farewell

7. The Black Angels
– Indigo MeadowPsychedelic Rock isn’t often considered that much contemporary. But, The Black Angels have released another
hit with Indigo Meadow. It sounds
less garage but still has their original sound and they kept true to their
roots.

Listen : Broken
Soldier, Don’t Play With Guns

6. Tegan and Sara
– HearttrobKnown commonly because they are lesbian twin sisters, Tegan and Sara came
back with this new album, pop, electro, and enjoyable as hell. However, someone
has to attend to a live show of the Canadian duo to fully enjoy how natural
they are on the stage. An album that grows on you.

Listen : Closer,
I Couldn’t Be Your Friend

5. Uncle Acid and the
Deadbeats – Mind ControlDirectly inspired by Black Sabbath and all the sludge/stoner rock movement,
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats was
reveled to me by a guy I know from skateboarding who is also a professionnal
snowboarder. Their third album might sound a little bit more commercial at
times but they manage to perfectly capture the sound of their psychedelic
lyrics and a very heavy sound of garage underground band.

Listen: Poison Apple,
Death Valley Blues

4. Black Sabbath
– 13At first I was very cynic and critical about the release of this album.
Because, for me the first four albums of Black
Sabbath made them the most important band in music history. It is fuckin
bold to state that but my personal tastes and knowledge of music discards many
more popular choices that could come to anyone’s thoughts. So trying to
reproduce a sound that influenced many musicians but also that was particularly
avant-garde in its own time might be very risky.
Getting into 13 wasn’t particularly
difficult and I must admit loving it very much with Tony Imomi in full form and
Ozzy’s vocals still making some sense.

Listen : End of
the Beginning, God Is Dead?, Live Forever

3. Steven Wilson
– The Raven That Refused to SingWilson is this sublimly talented songwriter and guitarist that can do
anything and his fanbase would follow him anywhere he goes. With The Raven That Refused to Sing, Wilson
made one of the most memorable progressive albums of the later years. The
textures, the ambiences, and the transitions from different moods of this album
are grandiose.

Listen: Luminol, The Holy Drinker

2. Daft Punk – Random Access MemoriesMy knowledge of Electro might be limited but I know what I like and what I
dislike. As I am honest enough to also recognize the talent of artists of
genres I don’t particularly dig. This is the case for Daft Punk and their Random Access Memories, this is the
album I listened to the most during the year. There were even days it played
twice in the same day. Something that I almost never do.

Listen: Giorgio by Moroder,
Doin’ It Right (feat. Panda Bear)

1.Arcade
Fire – ReflektorNot a big surprise I agree, but it is the album that hooked me the most and
I thought to myself that again Arcade Fire has been able to reinvent
themselves. Textured with funk, percussions, disco, indie rock, well a great
mix of what Arcade Fire does best : what they love. It is an album that we
feel they are more relaxed and the lenght of some songs demonstrate how they
let themselves into their creations. To me, it is already an album that will
leave a mark.

Nice post and some interesting choices. Admittedly, I tend to fall back to the relative safety of late 70s/early 80s punk and post-punk bands, but there's still some great stuff out there (Arcade Fire included).